All of a sudden, he could hear them: footsteps, followed by heavy breathing.
Septimus looked towards the noise, and he saw them: wolves, a whole bunch of them, running right at him.
His heart rate spiked, but after three weeks of training, he maintained his calm and pulled out the bow, set an arrow, and shot.
The arrow hit, but it was only a glancing strike; the injured wolf kept running.
Meanwhile, Aela had already shot and taken one down, with another arrow ready to fire.
He tried to do the same but missed the second shot, while Aela hit hers; two wolves down, one injured.
Then they got too close; Septimus pulled out his dagger, holding it in his right hand while he used the bow as a shield.
The wolves did not attack but surrounded them.
Septimus counted four, and they were larger and meaner than the one he killed near Falkreath.
Aela was even faster; she threw down her bow and pulled out two wicked-looking daggers, one in each hand, a smile still on he face.
As taught, Septimus placed his back close to Aela, covering each other; the wolves were still circling, their breathing getting quicker.
Then one of the wolves struck, as if knowing he was the weak link; a wolf positioned to his left pounced, fangs aimed at his head.
Septimus reacted in time, stepped back, and used the bow to block its bite.
The situation was similar to before, but he was not the same; after weeks of training, he was much stronger, and the wolf, even if larger, could not topple him.
Septimus swung his dagger, stabbing into the wolf’s abdomen, gutting the beast, blood and bile staining his legs.
Meanwhile, another wolf attacked him, but was intercepted by Aela, who, almost without looking, stabbed a dagger into the skull of the charging wolf.
She abandoned her weapon and lunged at the largest wolf, intending to kill it.
Septimus saw what Aela did; so he pulled his dagger out but abandoned his bow, which was stuck in the closed jaws of the gutted wolf.
Wielding only a dagger, he turned to look at Aela, who was facing off against the largest wolf; his adrenaline spiked, blood flow increased, and his heart beat so hard it sounded like wardrums in his ears.
The fourth wolf looked between Aela and him, then faked a charge at Septimus, only to switch targets at the last moment.
He was baffled by the sudden change but recovered and launched himself after the wolf.
The beast was fast, faster than he was, and Aela had her back turned, busy with her target.
He tried to warn her, but he was breathing so hard he couldn’t call out in time.
So Septimus took a gamble; he launched himself as hard as he could, managing to land on the wolf’s back, causing it to tumble sideways.
Now he was stuck on the ground wrestling a raging beast.
He stabbed the dagger, hitting the creature’s chest, but the position was awkward, and the strike got caught on its ribs.
Still, the wolf yowled in pain and bit down, managing to catch his arm.
Septimus, too, screamed from the burning pain.
With the wolf’s maw biting down on his left arm, he pulled out the dagger and stabbed it right under its chin, reaching all the way to the creature’s brain, killing it instantly.
He was almost hyperventilating from the pain of his injury.
Slowly, he pulled his arm out of the wolf’s maw and looked at the wound; it didn’t look too deep.
Thankfully, he was wearing leather bracers; otherwise, the bite would’ve hit bone.
Looking up, he saw Aela standing next to him; she looked as good as new; the only signs she had been in battle were a flush on her face, her somehow messier hair, and bloody daggers.
“How are you holding up, pup?
I saw you fighting; it was pretty good for your first hunt!” She didn’t offer him a helping hand, so he stood up on his own, knees trembling from the pain.
“Haa, damn it, it got me good, almost bit my hand off, the bastard!” Aela laughed.
“Don’t be a baby, you’re lucky the one that got you was a small female; the big bastard over there could have probably bitten right through you!” She pointed to the largest wolf, now lying dead on its side, a hole in its forehead.
“You say that, but it still hurts.
Can you do me a favor and reach into my satchel and pass me a potion?”
She did, then held the bottle up to the light and shook it a couple of times.
“You’re sure you want to use this?
It’s not a major injury; they’ll patch you up at the temple!”
‘No, woman, what if it gets infected or something?
It will take a few hours to walk back now that I can’t run!’
He grabbed the offered bottle and followed the instructions given by the alchemist: just drink it.
As he did so, he left a strange feeling throughout his body; his magicka felt stimulated.
Then the feeling focused on the injury before the strange feeling overtook the pain; it was an unpleasant numbness, like a thousand ants were climbing on his arm.
After the feeling passed, he took the bracer off and cleaned his skin with water; it was as good as new.
‘Damn, potions actually work.
I knew it from the game, but seeing my wounds just disappear is amazing!’
Aela looked at his arm, nodded, then turned to the carcasses.
“Alright, now that you’re all better, let’s get down to business.
This time I’ll teach you how to skin.”
He sighed and crouched next to her, prepared to listen when something hit one of his legs, causing him to tumble on his back, a dagger pointed at his face.
“Told you to pay attention.
Never let your guard down even after the fight is over; get up!”
He grumbled an apology and got back up, this time paying more attention to her movements.
‘Damn it, no wonder barely anyone uses a bow; getting a faceful of bloody mud right after a fight is unpleasant to say the least’
Still, Aela was a good teacher, and him an equally good student; he quickly got the hang of skinning, and the last two wolves were done by him.
Even if the pelts had some flaws, the value wouldn’t really change.
“Good, with this we have proof that the job is done.
Carry the pelts, pup; we are heading back to Jorrvaskr.” Septimus did as told and shouldered the bloody pelts.
“These things stink!”
Aela called out from ahead.
“Stop complaining, it’s only a few fleas.
You’ll get used to it.”
“FLEAS?!” He almost threw the pelts on the ground.
“First thing I’ll be doing is visit the alchemist and buy something that helps with fleas!”
====================
They made it back to Whiterun by sunset.
As he entered the great hall of Jorrvaskr, one of the trainees saw him.
“You look like shit!”
Septimus quipped back.
“Thank Torvar, you too look gorgeous.”
“HA!” Torvar scoffed.
“What happened to you?
Lost a fight against a puddle?”
He sat down next to Torvar and grabbed a Nord Mead.
“I wish.
This morning Aela called me out to hunt with her; we completed a mission, took down six wolves, had to wrestle one of them on the ground, and I won.”
Torvar raised his own mead and toasted Septimus.
“Congratulations then!” He got closer and whispered in Septimus’s ear.
“How was it with Aela?
I heard some crazy stories about her hunting trips!”
Septimus quickly shushed him and shook his head.
‘Shut it, man, they are werewolves; if that woman hears me shit-talking her, she’ll beat me up!’
“It was fine.
Has she never invited you?
I thought all trainees go hunting with her.”
“No, not all, only those she likes.
I never went, but Ria did go a while back; she told me they ended up not finding anything and returned empty-handed.
Aela never called her out again since.”
“Hmm, I see.
Well, I did learn a lot from the outing; maybe she’ll pick you next.
All the advice I can give is to watch out around her.”
Torvar just shrugged and went back to nursing his drink.
After quickly chugging the rest of his, Septimus went to look for Aela; she was outside, by the stairs leading up to the skyforge.
“Welcome, pup.
I already reported our success to Vilkas; he told me to congratulate you!
Also, we believe you are ready, so I had a talk with our blacksmith up there and commissioned you a weapon; it will be ready by week’s end.
Look forward to it!”
Just as Septimus was about to thank her, he ended up on his back again, looking up at her.
“I told you to pay attention until I say the hunt is over”
She turned to walk back inside, leaving him down on the ground.
As the doors opened, she gave him a wave and left a reminder.
“Always keep your guard up, pup; you never know when you’ll get put down again”
And the doors closed behind her, cutting off her laughter.